''The Rousters'' is an American

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television series about a group of modern-day

bounty hunter A bounty hunter is a private agent working for bail bonds who captures fugitives or criminals for a commission or bounty. The occupation, officially known as bail enforcement agent, or fugitive recovery agent, has traditionally operated outsid ...

s who are descendants of legendary lawman

Wyatt Earp Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which l ...

. It aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

from October 1, 1983, until July 21, 1984. Despite advertising claims that this series would "sink ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy/drama television series that aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986; in addition, four three-hour specials aired in 1986, 1987, and 1990. The series was set on the luxury passenger cruise ship MS ''Pa ...

''" in the ratings, it was canceled in mid-season after only 6 of its 13 episodes had aired, with the remaining shows being burned off during the summer of 1984.

Premise

Wyatt Earp III ( Chad Everett) works as a

bouncer A bouncer (also known as a doorman or door supervisor) is a type of security guard, employed at venues such as bars, nightclubs, cabaret clubs, stripclubs, casinos, hotels, billiard halls, restaurants, sporting events, schools, concerts, or ...

for the traveling Sladetown Carnival, run by "Cactus Jack" Slade ( Hoyt Axton). Wyatt doesn't care for his embarrassing name or the legacy it represents, but his shotgun-toting mother Amanda (

Maxine Stuart Maxine Stuart (June 28, 1918 – June 6, 2013) was an American actress. Biography Stuart was born in Deal, New Jersey as Maxine Shlivek, and raised in Manhattan and Lawrence, Nassau County, New York. Stuart was a life member of The Actors S ...

) wants to carry on the "family tradition" of keeping law and order through bounty hunting. Wyatt's brother Evan (

Jim Varney James Albert Varney Jr. (June 15, 1949 – February 10, 2000) was an American actor and comedian. He is best known for his broadly comedic role as Ernest P. Worrell, for which he won a Daytime Emmy Award, as well as appearing in films and n ...

) has a penchant for con artistry and bungled repair-work; this character is mostly comic relief. Slade's lion-taming daughter Ellen (

Mimi Rogers Miriam Rogers (née Spickler; born January 27, 1956) is an American actress. Her notable film roles are '' Gung Ho'' (1986), '' Someone to Watch Over Me'' (1987), ''Desperate Hours'' (1990), and '' Full Body Massage'' (1995). She garnered the gre ...

) is dating Wyatt and tutoring his teenage son Michael (

Timothy Gibbs Timothy Brian Gibbs (born April 17, 1967) is an American director, actor, producer, and screenwriter who has starred in films, such as '' 11-11-11'' as Joseph Crone and ''The Kings of Brooklyn'' as Maximilian Sentor and television programs, such ...

Cast

* Chad Everett as Wyatt Earp III *

as Amanda Earp * Hoyt Axton as "Cactus Jack" Slade *

as Ellen Slade *

as Evan Earp *

as Michael Earp

Episodes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rousters, The 1983 American television series debuts 1984 American television series endings American action television series Television series by 20th Century Fox Television Television series by Stephen J. Cannell Productions NBC original programming English-language television shows Television shows set in Kentucky